1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to an ad-hoc network. More particularly, embodiments of the present invention relate to an Internet access (connection) system and method of an ad-hoc network.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical mobile communication system transfers data between a mobile element and a base station. In other words, the mobile terminal and the base station may directly transceive data without passing through other nodes. In contrast, in an ad-hoc network, other nodes may relay data from a source node to a destination node.
The ad-hoc node may be a network spontaneously constructed by mobile nodes. As the nodes may be guaranteed with mobility, the ad-hoc network has a quite flexible structure. The ad-hoc network enables communications between nodes without the support of a conventional mobile communication system, and supports multi-hop transmission. Thus, there may be no limit to communication distance.
Connection to the Internet, among various applications of the ad-hoc network, has recently been under discussion. In detail, this discussion has revolved around concerns of how to connect (access) the ad-hoc network to the Internet by use of an Internet gateway (I/G).
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional ad-hoc network, the Internet, and an I/G connecting the ad-hoc network and the Internet, which are currently under consideration. However, in reference to FIG. 1, problems of the conventional system are explained below.
The ad-hoc network 100 may include a plurality of nodes, wirelessly connected to the I/G 110. The I/G 110 can be connected to the Internet 120 by wired line, and forwards data from the ad-hoc network 100 to the Internet 120, and vise versa. As the location of the I/G 110 is fixed, in general, the ad-hoc network 100 cannot access the Internet 120 in an uncovered area of the I/G 110. Furthermore, since the number of I/Gs is limited, if a plurality of nodes in the ad-hoc network 110 attempt to access the Internet 120 at the same time, traffic is concentrated to the I/G 110. The traffic concentration degrades network performance such as packet loss and packet transfer delay.